NCJ Number
79390
Journal
Trial Volume: 17 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1981) Pages: 54-60,85
Date Published
1981
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court in the field of criminal law for the year 1981, with particular emphasis on fourth amendment decisions.
Abstract
Last term, in Payton v. New York, the Court held that police officers need an arrest warrant in order to make a routine felony arrest in the arrestee's home. The question of whether the police need to be armed with a search warrant when seeking to execute an arrest warrant in the home of someone other than the arrestee was answered in 1981. In Steagald v. United States, the Court held that, in the absence of exigent circumstances or consent, the police may not enter the home of a third person to search for the subject of an arrest warrant without first obtaining a search warrant. In Edwards v. Arizona, the Court was asked again to examine police conduct in the context of Miranda. In this case, the Court established two black-letter principles of law. In addition, in a per curiam opinion in California v. Prysock, the Court examined the question of whether the warnings given to a minor prior to a recorded conversation with a police officer satisfied the requirements of Miranda. Other cases decided by the Court involved double jeopardy, voir dire, statutory rape and equal protection, and prisoners' rights. Finally, in a case of great importance to the Justice Department's campaign against organized crime, United States v. Turkette, the Court, resolving a dispute between the circuits, held that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) applies not only to legitimate, but also to wholly illegitimate enterprises. This decision opens the door to mass indictments of illegal syndicates headed by members of organized crime. A total of 28 case notes are provided.